Social & Emotional Skills for Kindergarten

Starting kindergarten means learning more than letters and numbers. Social and emotional skills help children build relationships, express their feelings, follow routines, and become more independent. Explore simple skills and activities you can practice at home to help your child feel confident and ready for kindergarten.

Two students sitting at a computer smiling.

Skills to Practice

What Does Social & Emotional Readiness Look Like?

Children develop at different rates, and they don’t need to master every skill before the first day of school. As your child gets ready for kindergarten, you can help them practice skills like:

  • Sharing and taking turns
  • Listening and following simple directions
  • Expressing their needs and feelings
  • Playing and working with other children
  • Handling frustration and other big emotions
  • Completing simple tasks independently
  • Asking an adult for help when they need it

Practice at Home

Activities to Build Social & Emotional Skills

Try these simple activities at home to help your child practice the social and emotional skills they'll use in kindergarten.

Sharing and Taking Turns Activities

Activity: Sharing Circle Time

Materials:

  • A variety of toys or objects that can be shared (e.g., stuffed animals, building blocks, play food)
  • Timer or clock
  • Stickers or small rewards (optional)

Steps:

  1. Explain the importance of sharing and taking turns. Use simple language to describe how sharing helps everyone have fun together.
  2. Create a designated "sharing circle" area, such as a blanket or marked spot on the floor.
  3. Explain that this is where everyone will take turns playing with the toys.
  4. Set timer for 2-3 minutes.
  5. Choose a sharing toy and show it.
  6. Model playing with the toy briefly.
  7. Pass toy to child or family member.
  8. Encourage waiting for turn with timer.
  9. Rotate turns with different toys.
  10. Emphasize saying "thank you" and "you're welcome".
  11. Use stickers or rewards for positive sharing.
  12. Discuss feelings about sharing afterward.

This activity helps children develop social-emotional skills such as empathy, patience, cooperation, communication, problem-solving, positive relationships, self-regulation, emotional awareness, and a positive self-concept. These skills are essential for healthy social interactions, successful relationships, and overall well-being.

Activity: Turn-Taking Board Game Fun

Materials:

  • Board game suitable for your child's age and interests
  • Timer or clock

Steps:

  1. Explain the activity of playing a board game to practice sharing and taking turns.
  2. Review the game rules together.
  3. Set a timer for 1 minute for each turn.
  4. Let your child go first and take their turn.
  5. When the timer goes off, pass the game piece to the next player.
  6. Join in the game, taking turns after your child.
  7. Encourage positive interaction and good sportsmanship.
  8. Use the timer for fair and equal turns.
  9. Celebrate achievements and good sharing.
  10. Discuss the game experience afterward.

This activity provides a rich context for children to develop social-emotional skills such as patience, empathy, conflict resolution, turn-taking, sharing, communication, emotional regulation, self-confidence, respect for rules, relationship-building, problem-solving, and cooperative play. These skills are essential for healthy social development and positive interactions with others in various settings.

Verbal Communication Activities

Activity: Feelings Charades

Materials:

  • Feelings cards (e.g., happy, sad, excited, surprised, angry)
  • Timer or clock

Steps:

  1. Explain that you'll be playing "Feelings Charades" to explore different emotions.
  2. Show the feelings cards one by one and discuss each emotion with your child.
  3. Talk about times when they might have felt that emotion and what it looked like.
  4. Explain that in charades, you act out a word without speaking.
  5. Give examples of simple actions for each feeling (e.g., jumping for joy, frowning for sad).
  6. Set timer for 30 seconds or 1 minute.
  7. Act out a feeling silently.
  8. Child guesses the feeling.
  9. Switch roles: Child acts, parent guesses.
  10. Discuss the acted-out feelings after each round.
  11. Play several rounds with different emotions.
  12. Explore complex emotions for older children.
  13. Reflect and share experiences of different emotions.

This activity is an effective tool for helping children build social-emotional skills such as emotion recognition, nonverbal communication, empathy, perspective-taking, communication, problem-solving, self-expression, social connection, emotion regulation, positive interaction, self-awareness, and a sense of fun in exploring emotions. These skills are essential for healthy social relationships, emotional intelligence, and overall well-being.

Activity: Storytelling Adventures

Materials:

  • Picture cards or images (e.g., from magazines, printed photos, online images)
  • Blank paper or a notebook
  • Crayons, markers, or colored pencils

Steps:

  1. Introduce the activity as "Storytelling Adventures" to develop language skills and imagination.
  2. Explain that you will be creating stories together using the picture cards.
  3. Select a picture card and observe details.
  4. Start the story with a simple opening line.
  5. Take turns adding to the story.
  6. Encourage descriptive language and clear expression.
  7. Draw illustrations to accompany the story.
  8. Continue with new picture cards for more stories.
  9. Praise clear expression and creativity.
  10. Compile stories into a "Storybook."
  11. Reflect on and discuss the stories created.

This activity provides a rich platform for children to develop social-emotional skills such as empathy, collaboration, communication, emotional regulation, problem-solving, self-confidence, resilience, relationship-building, appreciation of diversity, and positive interaction skills. Through the imaginative and collaborative process of storytelling, children not only enhance their language abilities but also cultivate important skills for navigating social interactions and understanding themselves and others.

Listening Skills Activities

Activity: Listen and Draw

Materials:

  • Paper
  • Crayons, markers, or pencils

Steps:

  1. Each of you gets paper and crayons.
  2. Introduce the activity as "Listen and Draw" to practice listening skills.
  3. Explain that you will give simple instructions for drawing, and your child needs to listen carefully to follow them.
  4. Start with simple instructions like "Draw a circle."
  5. Give one instruction at a time.Show how to do each instruction on your paper.
  6. Encourage your child to listen and draw.
  7. Check and correct drawings together.
  8. Gradually add more complex instructions.
  9. Take turns giving instructions.
  10. Collaborate on a drawing together.
  11. Reflect on the experience afterward.

This activity provides a fun and interactive way for children to develop social-emotional skills such as listening, following instructions, patience, collaboration, emotional regulation, confidence, communication, problem-solving, expression, positive interaction, respect, appreciation, and celebrating diversity. These skills are crucial for healthy social interactions, effective communication, and building strong relationships with others.

Activity: Sound Guessing Game

Materials:

  • A variety of objects that make different sounds (e.g., keys jingling, crumpling paper, shaking a jar of rice, tapping a spoon on a cup)
  • Blindfold (optional)

Steps:

  1. Gather objects that make different sounds.
  2. Introduce the activity as the "Sound Guessing Game" to practice listening skills.
  3. Explain that you will make sounds with objects, and your child needs to guess what each sound.
  4. Start with familiar sounds like jingling keys or crumpling paper.
  5. Optionally, blindfold your child to focus on listening.
  6. Make a sound with each object, one at a time.
  7. Ask your child to guess what object made the sound.
  8. Discuss the object and its sound qualities after each guess.Introduce new and challenging sounds as they guess correctly.

This activity supports the development of social-emotional skills by promoting active listening, communication, turn-taking, problem-solving, emotional regulation, cooperation, confidence, diversity appreciation, active listening, positive interaction, and curiosity. These skills are foundational for healthy social interactions, effective communication, and emotional well-being.

Basic Life Skills Activities

Activity: Task Mastery Challenge

Materials:

  • A variety of simple tasks or activities
  • Timer (optional)

Steps:

  1. Make a list of simple tasks or activities that your child can practice independently.
  2. Examples include putting on shoes, zipping up a jacket, buttoning a shirt, brushing teeth, or setting the table.
  3. Explain to your child that you have a fun challenge called the "Task Mastery Challenge."
  4. Let them know that they will practice doing these tasks on their own to become experts at them.
  5. Demonstrate each task step-by-step.
  6. Practice the tasks together a few times.
  7. Encourage independent practice.
  8. Optionally, set a timer for added challenge.
  9. Celebrate successes with praise and encouragement.
  10. Create a colorful task chart or checklist.
  11. Make it a game with points or stickers for completed tasks.
  12. Rotate tasks to keep it engaging.
  13. Encourage ownership of daily tasks.
  14. Reflect on accomplishments and discuss the importance of learning life skills.

This activity provides a structured and positive environment for children to develop social-emotional skills such as self-confidence, self-efficacy, emotional regulation, persistence, responsibility, problem-solving, positive reinforcement, cooperation, goal setting, communication, sharing accomplishments, trust, and bonding. These skills are foundational for healthy social interactions, emotional well-being, and building strong relationships with others.

Activity: Life Skills Treasure Hunt

Materials:

  • Picture cards or drawings of everyday tasks (e.g., putting on shoes, zipping up a jacket, brushing teeth, setting the table)
  • Timer (optional)
  • Treasure chest or box (optional)

Steps:

  1. Create or print picture cards depicting simple everyday tasks that your child can practice independently.
  2. Include tasks such as putting on shoes, zipping up a jacket, washing hands, brushing teeth, and setting the table.
  3. Introduce the "Life Skills Treasure Hunt" to your child as a fun game to practice important tasks.
  4. Explain that they will search for the task cards around the house and complete the tasks independently.
  5. Hide cards in different locations for your child to find.
  6. Child finds a card, looks at the task, and completes it independently.
  7. Optional: Set a timer for added challenge and excitement.
  8. Check completed tasks and celebrate with praise or rewards.
  9. Continue until all tasks are found and completed.
  10. Review tasks and discuss their importance for independence.

This activity provides a fun and interactive way for children to develop social-emotional skills such as confidence, problem-solving, responsibility, persistence, cooperation, empathy, communication, social interaction, emotional regulation, celebrating achievements, and life skill awareness. These skills are crucial for their personal growth, relationship building, and overall emotional well-being.